Joga felt fortunate that he had recruited Carman to help him and began to wonder if he should seek out some true "professionals." Carman was incredibly skilled, far beyond Joga's expectations, but his knowledge was severely limited; the man was still illiterate, unable to write his own name even today.
Now, Joga faced a problem. He needed guidance from professionals, not just relying on trial and error. It wasn't just the psychological issues; Joga knew that today's victory had been somewhat lucky. Carman had chosen the position for him early on and acted as bait, drawing the enemies into the perfect shooting range. And he had one of the most advanced sniper rifles in the world!
Even so, he still got injured.
Joga's shooting skills were excellent, but he lacked real tactical training. Learning some tricks from movies and the internet wasn't enough for his current situation.
As they talked, the two reached the bush area where they had been before...
Looking at the two patches of blood on the ground, Joga frowned and said, "They're not dead. Do they have reinforcements?"
Carman crouched down, examined the area briefly, and shook his head. "They treated themselves by bleeding out the venom and injected antivenom. Then, they helped each other in that direction. These guys are stupid. They probably don't even know they were bitten by black mambas."
Carman sniffed the air, saying, "They should be close to death. There are wild dogs nearby; they follow the scent of dying prey."
With that, Carman led the way ahead. After walking about 600 meters, they found the two white gunmen, slumped under a big tree. The black mamba venom had paralyzed their nervous systems, leaving them unable to move. Though the two men could still turn their heads with difficulty, they were helpless against the wild dogs circling nearby.
Joga fired a few shots into the air, scaring off the wild dogs, and slowly walked up to the gunmen, squatting beside them. After disarming them, Joga nudged one man's chin with his pistol, asking, "Who are you people? Why did you attack me?"
Perhaps the antivenom had some effect; the gunman was only paralyzed and hadn't lost consciousness or shown signs of respiratory failure. Faced with Joga's question, the gunman bluntly replied, "I know I'm done for. Just kill me..."
Joga glanced at the small green dots around them and shook his head. "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll make it quick for you. If you have any sense, you should know how those wild dogs will eat you. They'll start by tearing into your belly and eating your insides while you're still alive."
Seeing the fear in the gunman's eyes, Joga continued, "Tell me who you are and where your boss is, and I'll make it quick."
The gunman, unable to move, struggled to turn his neck and glance at the poor guy next to him who was in the same boat. In a hoarse voice, he said, "We're from the Sea Hounds mercenary group. We were hired to protect a man named Kosty Morey, helping him sell weapons in South Sudan. Today, someone informed Morey that a Chinese guy was competing with him in business, so he sent us to attack the rival."
Joga, puzzled, said, "Just because I sold a few guns to the Siruk people, you want to kill me? As far as I know, there are many arms dealers in South Sudan. Why target me?"
The gunman paused, then said, "Because you're Chinese. In the past, the Chinese never got involved in this kind of business; they only did big deals. My boss says there's going to be big changes in South Sudan soon. Someone approached him to cooperate, wanting South Sudan to descend into chaos first. I don't know why, but maybe your presence was seen as a threat to his plans. My boss is currently in Wau, waiting for news..."
As the gunman spoke, Joga, deep in thought, noticed his struggle and said, "I'll give you a quick death if you tell me where he is."
After jotting down the address the gunman provided, Joga stood up and gave Carman a signal. Carman hesitated for a moment, then swiftly drew his hunting knife and plunged it into the hearts of the two venom-stricken gunmen.
Joga was taken aback by Carman's decisiveness, awkwardly averting his eyes from the gunmen's pained expressions. He then said, "Let's take their car to Wau. I bet those Siruk people are nearby too, wanting to see the outcome. If we get the chance, I'll take them out. After we figure out what's going on, I'm never coming back to this damned place."
Carman, uninterested in the backstory, saw every problem in Africa as one that could be solved by death. But Joga couldn't think that way. He was certain that it wasn't the arms deal that brought trouble to him—it was his identity.
Not only had the Siruk misunderstood, but the Italian guy clearly had as well.
The dead gunman's words were vague, but Joga had a bad feeling, sensing he was caught up in something much bigger.
Joga wasn't one to play the hero, but he couldn't let his actions bring trouble to his fellow countrymen. If that Italian discovered his men were dead and incited the Khartoum people to attack the local Chinese, Joga couldn't accept the consequences.
So, the Italian had to die, and the Siruk man as well!
After reluctantly setting fire to the useless pickup trucks, Joga drove the best-maintained one, with Carman and the spoils of war, quickly heading toward Wau.
That bastard Kosty was staying in a hotel, ironically on UN peacekeeping grounds. Protected by others while scheming to harm them—Joga found the man utterly contemptible.
The quiet night in Wau allowed Joga to switch off the truck's lights as they neared the hotel. Using a night vision scope, he carefully maneuvered the vehicle to a stop 200 meters from the hotel.
After watching for a while with a night vision telescope, Joga turned to Carman, who was fiddling with the night vision device on his head, and said, "That Italian is in the hotel on the left. Where do you think the Siruk man would be if he wanted to observe the Italian?"
Carman, after looking ahead for a while through his monocular night vision device, rolled down the window and sniffed the air before saying, "There's a Siruk-operated leather shop across from the hotel. They use a special spice to preserve their leather. I'm not sure if the Siruk man is here. Want me to go check? The house isn't big, and there shouldn't be many people inside. I can kill them all myself."
Amazed, Joga looked at Carman and shook his head. "Buddy, we're just going to check. No need to start by killing everyone. We'll split up. My gun has a silencer, so once I succeed, you can decide if killing is necessary. Honestly, I'd prefer to take him alive. I need to know what I did wrong."
Carman gave Joga a strange look before hesitating and saying, "If they're all dead, it means you did nothing wrong."
Joga paused, then responded in a tone of admiration, "You make a good point..."